Where Are the Disabled People in Your Work?
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October 6, 2003
The World Health Organization estimates that 10% of any population are disabled. Disproportionate numbers of disabled people are among the poorest in all parts of the world. According to UN estimates, 82% of disabled people in developing countries live below the poverty line. The basic cause of this poverty is exclusion: exclusion from social, economic and political life. Action on Disability and Development (ADD) is a UK-based international development organisation that works with organisations of disabled people in 12 of the poorest countries of Africa and Asia to tackle this exclusion.
The Millennium Development Goals call for increased focus on poverty reduction, yet research conducted by ADD, in conjunction with the Chronic Poverty Research Centre, found startlingly low levels of inclusion of disabled people among international development organisations. A total of 49 organisations were involved in this study. No organisation admitted intentionally excluding disabled people. However, other than those organisations specifically set up to work with disabled people, only 22% said they aim to include disabled people in all their work; 35% reported employing no disabled people in their UK offices; only three organisations reported regularly consulting or informing disabled people of their activities. One respondent said that they inform disabled people of their activities “if appropriate”. This would seem to imply that some activities would not be appropriate for disabled people. Such attitudes seem to reflect the tendency to see work with disabled people as somehow separate from other poverty reduction work. Barriers to inclusion The main barriers to including disabled people were found to relate to the following issues. Access · Physical: Only 4 interviewees had wheelchair accessible offices. Two organisations even claimed that their headquarters did not need to be accessible because separate arrangements could be made for disabled people's accommodation if required. Such an approach is discriminatory and likely to discourage disabled people from participating or applying for jobs within the organisation. · Information: Only 5 interviewees produced any material in Braille, audio or large print. One large organisation said they did not produce material in these formats because they did not have any supporters who needed them. If this is the case, the question must be asked why this organisation is attracting such a narrow range of supporters. Staffing No organisation admitted discriminating against disabled people in job interviews. However, this is meaningless if: a building is not accessible; printed material is not offered in different formats; proactive attempts are not made to encourage disabled applicants; transferable skills are not considered in recognition of past discrimination that may have excluded disabled people from similar work; and disabled people's access needs are not supported in the application procedure.
Resources Lack of funding was the most commonly mentioned reason given for lack of inclusion of disabled people. However, disability inclusion does not necessarily cost large amounts of money. Furthermore, most funders of international development work will support inclusive practices if the costs are included in funding proposals. Expense does in any case seem a strange reason for a poverty reduction agency not to work with the poorest. Organisational working practices Several respondents said they were reluctant to “impose” disability inclusion on their partners overseas. One respondent wrote: "We aim to work with governments, NGOs and community-based organisations according to their demands. They have not highlighted the needs of disabled people." It is probable that disability issues do not come up in such consultations. However, this does not validate the exclusion of disability issues, rather it highlights the extent of the problem. It is unlikely that, if a partner made no mention of women, this would be seen to justify excluding women. Time to mainstream disability in development Inclusion of disabled people is widely seen as an addition to existing work, competing for time and resources with many other issues. Few organisations see it as intrinsic and essential to effective poverty reduction work. There are some exceptions to this: World Vision for example is taking significant steps towards including disabled people in its work; and International Service is co-organising a conference on 11-12 November on Mainstreaming Disability in Development. Discrimination against disabled people is pervasive in all societies, whether intentional or not. Unless this is acknowledged and actively countered, international development organisations will continue to widely exclude disabled people from their work. One response to our written questionnaire summarises a sentiment implied by several organisations: "Working with the poorest is challenging enough without ensuring the involvement of disabled people." This shows a striking lack of awareness that disabled people are among the poorest of the poor and that if real headway is to be made in reducing poverty then the needs of disabled people cannot be ignored. Rebecca Yeo works with Action on Disability and Development,UK. --- OneWorld Guest Editorials represent the viewpoint of the authors and not necessarily that of the OneWorld Network. Read and comment on previous Guest Editorials. If you would like to contribute or suggest a future OneWorld Guest Editorial, please contact Miles Litvinoff. |
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